Page 9 of Koha’vek (Cyborg Guardians Spinoff)
Ava
When I woke late in the morning alone on Koha’vek’s nest, my mood seemed to bounce back and forth between elation and apprehension. He had clearly been performing a mating ritual, and the result was amazing. I’d never heard of knotting, but then I never fucked an alien before.
As I had come to care for Koha’vek, he seemed less and less alien. The knotting was just a reminder. However, it didn’t change how I felt about him. I was just worried about the future.
Letting Jenkins’s men go was probably a mistake. They would find their way back and bring more men with them. Had Koha’vek killed them, more men would come looking for them. I didn’t see how we could stay here now that they’d found me and seen Koha’vek.
I sighed, turning back the blanket, and got up to retrieve my clothes from the floor, carrying them into the bathroom with me.
I knew Koha’vek wasn’t far away. The fire had been stoked, and the cabin was warm.
I found him squatting at the hearth, roasting what looked like a rabbit over the open fire.
There were also some root vegetables boiling in a pot, suspended over the fire.
Koha’vek looked up as I entered the room. “Did you sleep well, my mate?”
“Very well.” I smiled at him.
There was a gleam in his golden eyes that I couldn’t quite read and a very slight smile on his lips. I could easily imagine what he might be thinking as my mind kept going back to our joining. Just thinking about it caused a flutter of awareness in my core.
I was in love with a monster, and I was OK with that. But I knew there was so much more to Koha’vek than his alien appearance.
“How long do you think it will be before Jenkins sends more men?”
“I don’t have enough information to make that calculation. It will probably depend on what else is happening within his organization and how important it is to him to have you under his control.”
I shook my head. “That’s anyone’s guess. It was important enough for him to send someone after all these weeks. I don’t think it will be long before someone else comes. ”
“If they come back, I will kill them. Or they will kill me.”
His words settled over me like a bucket of ice water. “I don’t want them to kill you. I don’t want to bury you in the ground because Jenkins wants a prize to display on his arm back in town.”
Koha’vek’s expression was unreadable, but his voice was low and steady. “I would die to keep you safe.”
I shook my head. “Koha’vek, I don’t want you to lay down your life. I want us to have a life together.”
As he looked up at me, I could see a flicker of hope beneath his stoic surface. “It is my wish, too.”
“Then, what should we do?”
“We may need to go deeper into the wilderness and find another place to dwell,” he suggested.
“You mean run?I’ve already lost one home; I don’t want to lose this one too.”
“I understand. I've enjoyed the life I've made here, and even more so now that I've you to share it with. I do not think it is worth making war to keep it. I brought my weapons with me. I could kill them all. What do you think would happen if I did that?”
I looked at him. A vision of men hunting Koha’vek flashed through my mind. Word of his presence would bring the legendary cyborgs. If they didn’t kill him, they would take Koha’vek away, and I would still lose him.
“You’re right. I would rather lose this place than lose you.”
“Our meal is ready,” Koha’vek said, removing the spit from the fire.
I started to say I’d set the table, then saw he’d already done it. I smiled at the rustic table and two chairs Koha’vek had made. He constructed the table of small, split logs tied together with deer hide cordage. It was just big enough for us to eat together like civilized people.
Using an animal hide to protect my hand from the heat, I lifted the small iron kettle from its hook and carried it to the table. Koha’vek removed the carcass from the spit and cut it into pieces using a sharp, lethal-looking knife.
I ladled the vegetables into two wooden bowls at the table. Koha’vek brought the meat to the table on a small wooden platter, and then we both sat in our respective chairs.
“If we have to leave, where would we go?” I asked.
“Before I settled here, I scouted some places south of here, deep in an unsettled part of the wilderness. I would have to build a dwelling.” He said, putting a choice piece of meat on the plate beneath my bowl. “I still have the hovercraft I stole from the base to get there.”
“What about Dotty?”
“I’m afraid she would have to walk, but we can get her there,” he assured me.
“Okay,” I nodded. “We can make a home wherever we can be together.”
“Including your horse.” Koha’vek smiled slightly, then put a piece of the meat into his mouth.
After our meal, Koha’vek went back to working on a chair he was making for me to sit by the fire. Since the weather was mild, he went outside to work. I went out to visit Dotty. Then I got a small basket I’d made from vines to forage around the cabin for herbs and vegetables.
I didn’t feel comfortable going too far from the cabin after my encounter with Jenkins’s henchmen. I found enough variety for a nice salad that would pair well with the grouse Koha’vek had snared in one of his traps. It was a quiet, lovely day going about the business of living.
It was dark and colder outside when we finished our meal.
Koha’vek fed the fire, and I took care of the dishes.
I prepared a pot of herbal tea to boil over the fire, then got out the deer hide jacket I’d started sewing for myself.
Koha’vek insisted the patchwork coat I wore when he found me would not serve me for another winter.
We were sipping hot tea and chatting casually when the cabin door opened with a soft creaking sound. Koha’vek jumped up, and I gasped at the dark specter standing in the doorway.
I jumped up, letting my work fall on the floor, and gripped Koha’vek’s arm. “Who are you, and what do you want?”
The specter stepped inside and retracted his dark helmet to reveal a handsome, dark-haired man nearly as tall as Koha’vek.
“Why are you here?” I demanded again.
“He wants me,” Koha’vek said. “He is a cyborg enforcer.” To the cyborg, he added, “I am unarmed.”
That’s when I noticed the cyborg’s hand resting on his sidearm.
“I saw your light and came to investigate. I never expected to find a ‘Saark this far south in Wyoming,” he said.
“I deserted. I never wanted to be a warrior. I was conscripted and brought to this world against my will. I could not bear the cruelties I witnessed my kind inflicting on yours. And I loved being in these mountains. I found this dwelling unoccupied, far from any others, and I just wanted to be left alone.”
“What about you, female? What is your name?”
“Ava Blake, this is my mate Koha’vek Draal.
He rescued me when a bear scared my horse, and she threw me.
I was banged up pretty good, and Koha’vek took care of me.
Please don’t take him. I don’t have anyone else.
He’s not hurting anybody here. Those horrible men of Callum Jenkins stole my father’s ranch from me, and he was going to force me to have sex with him.
So, I took my horse and ran away. Koha’vek has kept me safe, and I want to stay with him.
He can’t go back; they will imprison him. ”
“Sending him back to Mesaark is exactly what I am supposed to do,” he said.
“Then, who would protect Ava? Jenkins has already sent men to find Ava and take her back to him. I convinced them to leave, but I doubt we’ve seen the last of them.”
“I’m working on that. I’m Cyborg Protector Raven Blackwood. I came to the Brislow area to meet my genetic mate and discovered Jenkins’ s thugs harassing her and her sister-in-law. I ran them off, but they are persistent.”
“Ava Blake, will you state for my record that you have fully consented to your relationship with Mesaarkan Koha’vek Draal?”
“Yes, I have accepted Mesaarkan Koha’vek Draal as my mate,” she replied.
The cyborg Raven Blackwood seemed to stare into space for a moment, then said, “Very well. If you stay out of trouble, Koha’vek, I will say nothing of your presence until I can find out whether the Federation will grant you asylum here,” he assured us.
Then, he turned abruptly and ran out of the house without closing the door behind him.